While shaping the headstock, my luthier found a hidden knot, resulting in this:
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...538/LACazd.jpg
Zoomed in:
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...538/T7iprJ.jpg
At first, he though to simply plug it, but the plug was visible & neither he nor I were at all happy with the look. By the way, the asymmetry at the top is intentional; it accommodates the maker's mark & looks much more "normal" from the front than in this view:
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...903/OPaKF6.jpg
He could have started the whole neck/head over again or, as some friends proposed, left it as-is, as a character mark, but I suggested that maybe he could do an inlay of some sort. The question was: What? Should I get my initials inlaid? Perhaps a symbol, logo or something else? I was thinking a compass rose or anchor since most of what I sing & play are sailor songs.
After playing with some ideas, and after Ray showing me just how little real estate I had to work with once the tuning engines got installed, I had an epiphany.
Ray often uses the Morse code for D (dash-dot-dot) as an inlay on the fingerboard to mark the 12th (octave) fret. This is a cool double entendre because the D is for Dammann (the guy he's building for & whose name is on the label), but also if you imagine the dash as 10 and a dot as 1, it stands for 12.
I got to thinking, Morse code is easy to make with a router, has a nautical tie-in (ships communicate with it via flashing light), so how about my initials in Morse? I worked with Ray on a few details like wood type, spacing, etc. and settled on using the wenge which already accents the maple & cherry of the neck. Here's how it turned out. I couldn't be more pleased!
http://imageshack.com/a/img909/38/gcp9jx.jpg
